BBC Radio 4 Longwave shut down at 0100 BST this morning, Saturday 27th June, in spite of our best efforts to save this iconic service. The audio clip above records the shutdown on the Little Maestro 1930s wireless set, including Sailing By, Shipping Forecast and the National Anthem.
8 responses to “Goodbye R4LW… we will miss you”
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Very sad! I recorded the last hour myself, received through my 1950’s era PYE 78 radio, from the Big Ben midnight chimes to the end of the National Anthem, followed by a few repeats of the annoying closure message. Thanks so much for leading this campaign, Tobias – it’s such a shame that they didn’t listen to your very well constructed and compelling arguments.
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On the hottest June day in history, I had to visit someone in Worcester hospital. It’s over an hours’ drive, and in unbearable heat, I set off late in the afternoon. I packed cheese and pickle sandwiches, fruit juice, apples and crisps to enjoy later, and threw a Roberts Rambler in the bag.
My patient was fast asleep, so I sat with him until 9pm before making the ten minute trip to St Marys Church, Wychbold. I was surprised to find the church car park empty. With the heatwave subsiding, I walked back along the lane to the meadow the masts stand in. It was empty; no sheep, and the grass had been left to grow about a foot, with seed heads and flying insects for company. Hopping the fence, I strolled into the middle and set up with Radio 4LW and a picnic.
An epic sunset unfolded at the speed of the small hand on a clock, with a sky changing colour too slowly to witness in real time; from cornflower blue to the deepest, ripest blueberry, blended with red around the horizon, the masts, and me, gradually backlit with an yellow moon shadow. The air became completely still except for the deep vibration of Radio 4LW from within the grass. My green leather Rambler seemed almost to have been absorbed into the earth; the sound now coming from the ground itself.
Like holes pricked one by one with a pin, the stars came through that ripe blue vault above. I left my sandwiches until the Westminster hour, and swigged a glass of fruit juice, and enjoyed a fresh apple. Barring the occasional pub departee in the lane behind, I had the meadow, the masts and Radio 4LW to myself. The ground was still warm from the intense heat, so I lay down, the place free of the normal late night dew.
At the end of the midnight news, the last piece was about Radio 4 itself, and they played a little of Eric Coates Merrymakers in the background. As the last bars faded, I sat up and looked at the masts for a second. A mighty shooting star flew for just an instant across the tips of the antenna (I’m not making it up for effect – this actually happened).
My cheeks burnt bright and wet on this beautiful English night in a meadow that has seen no change in 90 years. Quarter to one; Sailing By. We all knew it could only be Al Ryan reading the very last proper Shipping Forecast.
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That’s a truly amazing description and thank you for sharing it with us. What a perfect way to listen to longwave close, if close it must. A very special and memorable night, and I like the poetry with which you recount it!
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Almost made me cry and all quite unnecessary… if it was a case of Money then why did the BBC now demand a licence for the service from all of those overseas listeners who would have willingly paid it??? The cash collected would probably have completely paid for any maintenance and repairs of the transmitter… and ensured contact for overseas people like me and also if ever there was a state of emergency in the UK.
I love the BBC radio 4 but I hate the management who seek to diminish the service… ? until they can close it for all??? and enter the modern arena that is already oversubscribed…
Sadly, Vivienne kincaid
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BBC would rather use our funding for broadcasting on the internet and other local stations in Africa and elsewhere. They are a law unto themselves and not accountable to the country and we are being forced to keep paying for this abuse. Shameless and not really accountable to the licence payer. No wonder so many have opted out and now the establishment it trying to stop anyone opting out and sneaking their content in places on the internet so you could access it and then be basically forced to have a license
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Thanks for recording this. I could not listen to it live.
One day I’ll tell my grandchildren that we had a transmission system that didn’t require cells, repeaters, data packets, decoders and so on and so on, which could cover considerable distances and, in some conditions, could be listened with just some wire, a diode and a earpiece. It will be hard to explain why we abandoned it.
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I feel deceived by the BBC… I thought i would be able to listen to radio 4 on FM… but when I tried this afternoon the FM was all French. Is this so for all outside of the UK and if so we have all been misled… Just another incidence of narrowcasting! Vivienne Kincaid
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Well put. Indeed, the BBC is based in London, and seems to assume that anything that is available there is available everywhere.
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Keep AM Alive 
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